They Bicker, He Smiles
by chislarina
Summary: Tate. Gibbs has put up with their squabbling for two years, but now, there's the silence to bear with.


They Bicker, He Smiles

By Chislarina

Every time they'd fought, out of the corner of their eyes, they saw him smirk at their immaturity.

Every time they'd glared at each other, they could sense his humour at their anger.

Every time they had blackmailed each other, it was obvious that he was behind them, laughing silently.

Every time Tony had done something to annoy or humiliate Kate, there was a hidden grin on Gibbs' face.

In the companionable chatter, there was true friendship, one that would last forever.

NCIS

"_Where's my PDA?" Kate asked after a minute of searching frantically through her desk, "I had it an hour ago, and it's suddenly gon-"Her eyes fell on Tony, who was smiling with an innocence she had learned to distrust._

_She stormed over to where he was sitting, and, hands flat against his desk, leaned forwards, glaring, "Give it back, DiNozzo."_

"_What are you talking about, Katie?" he asked sweetly, "I don't have anything." _

"_You expect me to believe that?" She asked n a deadly tone._

_Tony raised an eyebrow, "You expect me to believe that you've never been in a threesome?"_

_Kate stared at him, frozen in place, as McGee and Gibbs regarded her in surprise. There were smirks on their faces, she could feel it._

_Snapping out of her panicked state, she gave Tony a glance look of pure hatred, before storming off to the morgue with a false act of dignity. _

_Once she was gone, there was absolute silence whilst Gibbs stared at Tony accusingly, making him squirm. "Go apologise to her, DiNozzo."_

"_But what about never apologising because it's a sign of weakness, like rule number 15 or something?"_

"_Go!" Gibbs barked, and Tony jumped out of his seat, following Kate. Gibbs then eyed Tim, who quickly went down to see Abby._

_Rubbing his brow, Gibbs frowned, furious at Tony for upsetting the balance of the team. Why did they always have to bicker?_

_Next time they squabbled, there'd be hell to pay._

NCIS

_Tony lobbed yet another ball of paper at Kate's head. As it skimmed past her ear, she looked up, exasperated, before rolling her eyes, and looking back at her sketchbook._

"_Katie," He whined, "I'm bored"_

"_Then do something productive." She replied absentmindedly, adding a bit to her drawing._

_Tony's eyebrow went up slightly for a second, before casually getting up and walking over to her desk, watching her pencil lightly go over the outline of a figure she was in the middle of working on. He smirked as he realised it was him. He looked pretty good._

_Then he saw Kate's back stiffen, and she looked up, towards his empty desk, then towards him, snapping the book closed._

"_What are you doing, DiNozzo?" she snapped, "Don't you have something else to do apart from annoy me?"_

"_You mean that every time I do something, I have to ask your permission first?"_

_Gibbs watched from outside MTAC as Kate and Tony argued. He knew that he should be annoyed at this, but he could only feel pride at them holding their own. If they worked together, they'd be an unstoppable force, he knew that._

_He found himself grinning as Kate said something to stump Tony. Although he sometimes felt that he was working with young children on his team, he was so proud of them. They were _his_ young children._

NCIS

_Kate curled up on the floor, tired, and annoyed that they had to stay there to get everything done. She watched as Tony slipped off his chair and lay behind his desk, staring at the ceiling. After a minute, he met her gaze, and gave his trademark grin. She couldn't help it; she smiled in return, before turning away slightly so that he couldn't see her face._

_He continued to watch as her breathing slowed. He felt different, changed. He frowned, bewildered. Why was he seeing her like that? She was like a sister to him, he had thought. His perspective had shifted, and he wanted to tell her so. But for once, he was afraid to say exactly how he felt._

_He hadn't been with anyone else for a few weeks now, but that wasn't worrying him. All he wanted to do was say the sentence that had been inside him, churning._

_As he made sure that McGee was asleep, and that Gibbs wasn't around, he whispered "I love you Kate. I always will."_

_He sat up and crawled over to where she was sleeping, and played with a loose strand of her hair, before sinking down near her, and drifting off as well._

_Gibbs watched this from near his desk, after coming up from the evidence garage. He knew that they were meant for each other, and it was about time that they knew that themselves._

NCIS

Tony played with an item he had taken from the bottom drawer of his desk, absently staring right ahead of him, not hearing anything.

He looked down at what he had in his hands and smiled slightly, remembering times that seemed so long ago, but had only been a few days.

Slowly, he got up and went to Kate's desk, placing her PDA on it, and murmured "I'm sorry, Katie."

Gibbs watched him carefully, and the anger rose as he saw McGee watching Tony with the same emptiness that Tony had. What right did Ari have to choose who lived and who died? Why Kate?

The fury kept rising. There was going to be hell to pay, next time he came face to face with Ari.

NCIS

Tony lobbed a balled up sheet of paper at Kate's empty desk, wishing for the old times. The silence was getting on his nerves, and there were things he didn't want to think about ever again.

He got up, tracing his steps exactly from the last time he'd thrown paper at Kate, stopping at the edge of her desk, staring at the spot where she should have been sitting.

"Katie," he whispered, "I'm bored."

He took a deep breath and stepped forwards, touching the back of the chair. He closed his eyes, and held on tightly to Kate's desk, as if trying to bring her back.

Gibbs stood at the top of the stairs, watching his senior field agent get to grips with the harsh reality. He felt empty; the guilt of the loss was too great. The unstoppable force was broken, ripped away by a single bullet.

The emptiness grew, and he wished for the past.

NCIS

Tony couldn't go home. He had to stay, be distracted. Tiredness soon consumed him, and hesitantly, he lay down behind his desk, facing the empty space of Kate's desk. Slowly, he gave a hesitant smile, remembering the last happy moment so like this.

The memory was so vivid, and he welcomed it. Her soft breathing in his past consumed this moment, and he savoured it. The moment he had truly known what he wanted.

He got up and went over to the space where Kate should be, and sunk down to his knees, and choked out, "I love you Kate. I always will." Before lying down, and letting himself into a restless sleep.

Gibbs stood a few meters away, observing. He still felt guilty for this, and now, Tony had lost the one he was meant to be with. The pity and sorrow overwhelmed him as he turned away, hating the turn of events they had been forced into.

NCIS

Every time they faced the silence, they could feel his guilt.

Every time they looked at the desk, they sensed his anguish.

Every time they said something that would have been objectionable to her, they could feel his pain.

Every time something reminded them of her, they could taste his remorse.

In the new and empty silence, there was no humour. Nobody felt that they could ever smile again. There was a gaping hole in all of their hearts, one that time would never mend.

**Please review. I want to know if you liked, or didn't like this. Hope it's the former :)**


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